A is For . . .

A is for . . . Autumn. I remain hopeful that when September 22 rolls around, the temperature will dip into the chilly 80s.

A is for . . . Avoidance. We are only three weeks into the semester, and already I have three stacks of research papers to grade. For some reason, just grading the first one is the hardest part. So, of course, I look for something “more important” to do before I start—organizing my shoes, going through old magazines, and cooking new recipes. Oh yeah, and then blogging about them. 

A is for. . . Asia. Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, Indian. Asian “flavor profiles” (I learned that from Top Chef) are among my favorites. Here is a rather simple menu of some dishes that are not truly authentic to any of those cuisines, but use the ingredients in a fun way.

A is for . . . the grade my students undoubtedly hope they all get on their papers. I guess I’ll have to start grading those any day now.

Coconut Shrimp

The recipe is for an appetizer, but I served it as a main dish. Instead of making the sauce, I used a jarred sweet and sour sauce. The curry powder here give these an Indian vibe.

Source: old clipping

Yield: 2 main dish servings

Ingredients:

1 pound fresh or frozen peeled and deveined medium shrimp
1 c. flaked coconut, toasted and chopped (I pulsed it in the food processor)
½ c. seasoned fine dry bread crumbs (I only had plain, so I added 1 tsp. Tony’s Chacere’s Creole Seasoning)
¾ tsp. curry powder
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
nonstick cooking spray

Sauce:

½ c. mango chutney
¼ c. orange juice
¼ tsp. ground ginger

Process:

Thaw shrimp, if frozen. Rinse shrimp; pat dry with paper towels. Preheat oven to 400°F. Generously grease a 15x10x1-inch baking pan; set aside.

In a shallow bowl, combine coconut, bread crumbs, and curry powder. Place egg whites in another small shallow bowl. Dip shrimp into egg whites, then into coconut mixture, pressing it firmly onto shrimp. Place in prepared baking pan. Coat shrimp with nonstick cooking spray.

Bake about 10 minutes or until shrimp are opaque. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine chutney, orange juice and ginger. Serve with shrimp.

Asian Rice Pilaf with Ginger and Almonds

Source: original recipe

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

½ c. angel hair spaghetti, broken into one-inch pieces
½ c. slivered almonds
2 T. butter
1-2 tsp. minced fresh ginger
1 c. rice
2 ½ c. chicken broth
2 T. soy sauce
1/4 c. chopped green onion, green parts only

Process:

In a large sauce pan, sauté the spaghetti and almonds in the butter until golden. Stir in the ginger, rice, chicken broth and soy sauce. Boil 3 minutes, then stir, cover and simmer 15 minutes. Let sit 5 minutes; fluff with fork and stir in green onion.

Garlic-Sesame Spinach

In the original recipe, not all the amounts were specified which I have done here. Also, I adapted this for two servings.

Source: adapted from a recipe in Food and Wine, September 2010

Yield: 2 servings

Ingredients:

8-20 peeled garlic cloves
2 T. vegetable oil
Pinch of red pepper flakes
2 packages baby spinach
salt to tasted
2 T. toasted sesame seeds
sesame oil

Process:

In a large frying pan, sauté the garlic cloves in the vegetable oil until golden. (I did this very slowly, for about 15 minutes). Add the red pepper flakes and sauté for a few seconds to release the flavor. Add the spinach and cook until wilted. Add a splash of water and salt to taste. Top with the toasted sesame seeds (I toasted these in a non-stick skillet on the stove) and drizzle with the sesame oil. Serve immediately.